Walt Disney World Wayback Machine
1982

I love Walt
Disney World. No big surprise there. And while I'm someone who enjoys
change, and looks forward to what Disney has planned on the horizon, I
can't help but fondly recall the WDW from days gone by. I am a purist a
nostalgic at heart. While I love a good Yeti as much as the next guy,
I miss the House of Magic, Mr. Toad and the ticket kiosks scattered about
the parks.

Fortunately,
my memory hasn't completely faded just yet, and with the power of imagination
(Lou starts singing the old "Journey Into Imagination" song
in his best Billy Barty Figment voice), we can take a trip together in
my Walt Disney World Wayback Machine.

Like VH1,
I also "Love The 80's", so I've set the dials to January, 1982.

There's something
called "EPCOT Center" which I just HAVE to check out! They've
been talking about this thing for almost 20 years, so I can't wait to
see this incredible glass-domed city of the future. Here, where 20,000
people, all of whom are employed, will live, work and play in a climate-controlled
environment. This amazing, utopian city will have no slum areas, is supposed
to utilize the most cutting-edge of technologies, and really showcases
the forefront in industry, government and education. Like the Magic Kingdom,
this city uses a hub-and-spoke model, where a transportation network radiates
outward through four primary spheres of activity around the central core.
The dense, central area has businesses and apartment housing, and radiates
out to a more suburban model. I definitely have to check out the seven-acre
recreation deck located above the pedestrian and shopping areas of the
city. What's REALLY cool is the transportation lobby below the city! Here,
Disney uses two disparate, electrically-powered systems: a monorail for
long trips and a WEDWAY People Mover for shorter ones. I love the WEDWAY
in the Magic Kingdom, so this is gonna be great! Who knows, I might just
have to move here myself

(insert dream
sequence music and blurry visual effects here)

*Poof* It's
January, 1982, and it's a heck of a lot warmer here than it is in Jersey.
I'm driving around, looking for that big jetport they were supposed to
build, but no dice. Hmm . No matter. I should see that big dome any
second now any second here comes ummm huh.

A Cast Member
in her dashing, double-knit polyester costume points me towards EPCOT
Center (although she did look at me funny when I asked where the city
was). She tells me its not open yet, but I slip her a twenty and she gives
me the go-ahead to go look around.

Hey .
Wait a second!! That's not a dome! It's a geodesic sphere! And those aren't
houses! They're big buildings shaped like a wheel, or a pyramid
and that one has solarn panels on it!

Time out.

OK, so Walt
Disney's vision of what EPCOT, the city never came to be. His vision of
an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow - this living, breathing
community, died along with Walt in 1966. When Imagineers went about the
task of picking up the pieces and decided how to proceed now that their
leader was gone, the idea of EPCOT lived on, but not as Walt had wanted
it to be. The reality of politics, voting rights for residents, as well
as technical and logistical dilemmas plagued the folks over in California.
So the "new" EPCOT was born.

Now, in January,
1982, progress on this marriage of educational pavilions and world's fair
is moving swiftly. Foremost in everyone's mind is the opening of EPCOT
Center in October, so let's see what's going on here, as well as elsewhere
in WDW.

In Future
World, the closest thing to Walt's hopes for a showcase of new technologies,
some pavilions are farther along than others. Spaceship Earth, the centerpiece
of EPCOT, is about ¼ covered with Alucobond panels. This incredible,
self-cleaning material will eventually cover the sphere with, 11,324 panels
made up of 954 triangles. It will channel rainwater into the nearby lagoon,
and will soon be affectionately known as "The Big Golf Ball."
Most of the interior show's sets are stored in the top of the structure,
and will be installed from the top down as the scene sets are made ready.
They are installing the turntable for the load/unload area as I write
this.

Nearby, solar
panels are being positioned over at the Universe of Energy. Actually,
this is the largest privately funded solar-power installation in the world.
There are two acres of photovoltaic solar panels that generate 15% of
the power needed to run the entire attraction. Exterior glasswork is being
completed as the interior dioramas take shape. Some of the most realistic
Animatronic dinosaurs are already waiting for Guests, and the 1/8 wire
which will guide the 15-ton ride vehicles waits to be installed.

The World
of Motion, which will center on the history of transportation, as well
as the post-show "TransCenter" will General Motors' newest cars
and technologies in interactive exhibits. The building is circular in
shape, so as to resemble a wheel (more like a very short cylinder). The
60-foot tall building had a diameter of 318 feet, and its exterior is
covered in stainless steel. The 15-minute ride portion of the attraction
will contain 22 scenes populated by about 150 Audio-Animatronics figures.
As of now, many of the show scenes and Animatronic figures are already
in place, including the foot power, animal power, invention of the wheel,
DaVinci's studio, the western wagon and more. The post-show display, known
as the "TransCenter" will include the "Water Engine Show,"
as well as the "Bird and The Robot" show. It will be hosted
by an Audio-Animatronics toucan called, "Bird." He and the assembly-line
robot called "Tiger" will demonstrate the importance of robots
in modern automobile assembly. "Tiger" will be the very first
Audio-Animatronic figure to actually pick up objects, as he will eventually
be able to retrieve certain items located in his bag. He also will perform
a variety of tricks for guests, including "rolling over" and
"playing dead," and conducting a symphony orchestra. "Bird,"
meanwhile, continued to entertain the audience with silly jokes.

Wow. The
Land pavilion is HUGE! They tell me that when completed, it will be 253,780
square feet, and cover six acres, which includes working greenhouses and
labs. The main building can hold up to 3,600 people and includes three
attractions, a guided, behind-the-scenes tour, a great little food court
and a wonderful character-meal restaurant. The Listen to the Land boat
ride is already being tested, and plants have been growing in the greenhouses
for several months. Once the park opens, some of these plants and vegetables
will be harvested and served in the rotating restaurant above. The interior
fountain is in place already. It will serve as part of a grand story,
which will be told symbolically through the use of balloons, umbrellas
and water. The large, center balloon in the center of the Land pavilion
will represent the different cultures of the world. The "rain"
that falls from this balloon symbolizes the many nations nourishing the
earth, which is on the top of the fountain below. The balloons surrounding
the center balloon represent the four seasons. If you look closely, you
will see that the colors of the balloons reflect winter, summer, spring
and fall seasons. Also, if you look from the second floor to the food
court below, you will see that the tops of the umbrellas all contain images
of the sun as represented in different cultures. Just another incredible
example of Disney's attention to detail and theming behind everything
they do.

The two pyramids
that make up the nearby Imagination pavilion are stunning. As of now,
only a steel framework is up, but I do see evidence of a track being installed
for the Journey Into Imagination ride, as well as concrete walls for the
3D "Magic Eye Theater." However, I doubt that the ride will
be ready in time for the pavilion's opening in just a few months. Out
of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw a little purple creature
buzzing about, but it must just be a figment of my imagination.

As I meander
across Future World, I stop by what will be known as Communicore. Construction
appears to be progressing nicely on the tunnel from the Universe of Energy
to the Future Choice Theater and past Spaceship Earth. (What? You didn't
know there was a tunnel under Epcot?). CommuniCore East will host the
TravelPort, sponsored by American Express, where Guests can preview and
get information bout future vacations. The EPCOT Computer Central will
give Guests a behind the scenes look at "tomorrow's" computing
technology.

Looking past
this central plaza, I can see a Colonial-style mansion in the distance.
I am beckoned to what I understand will be the promenade surrounding "World
Showcase."

Making my
way clockwise (as I will likely always do even 24 years from now), I come
across a rather nondescript foundation, with some minor structural steel
in place. A peek over someone's shoulder reveals blueprints of what will
be a massive pyramid, complete with shopping arcade, restaurant and water-based
attraction making up the Mexico pailion. These guys better lay off the
margaritas and get back to work!

A large gap
between this an the next structure, which I understand will be China,
id somewhat odd. However, work seems to be progressing nicely here. The
steel is about ready to be erected, and from what they tell me, Disney's
Imagineers are filming a CircleVision film in China right at this moment.
They will likely continue well into May. Phase I of this pavilion will
allegedly be ready to open in October as well.

In Germany,
the beer garden is taking shape nicely, as the entire foundation is already
poured and the steel framework is on its way up. This pavilion will use
architectural elements from the regions of Bavaria, Rhineland and Northern
Germany. Next to the Biergarten Restaurant was going to be a stone building,
home to a "Rhine River " ride, which will take guests on a cruise
through the German countryside. It was to offer both education and entertainment,
by showcasing the cultural heritage of Germany 's past and present.

Ciao, bella!!
The Campanile in Italy is in place, the ornate lathe work on the buildings
is progressing nicely, and constructions of the Venetian Island is well
underway. Oh wait!! HEY!! Stop contruction!!! You guys got it BACKWARDS!!
No! NO!! This one goes there THAT one goes there!! Sheesh! These
guys must have their plans messed up - The placement of ½ scale
replicas of the Doge's Palace and the Campanile of St. Mark are reversed
from where they actually stand in St. Mark's Square in Venice! Oh well,
too late now.

The American
Adventure building is quite the engineering marvel, as it will use some
of the Disney Imagineer's most advanced designs and effects in this moving
tribute to the United States The handmade bricks that will cover the exterior
of this building have arrived and are being laid into place. The foundation
is in place, and they must have planned for a heck of a "rec room",
as there is a massive basement as well. Actually, this will house the
"War Wagon." Named after the 1967 John Wayne and Kirk Douglas
comedic Western film of the same name, the "War Wagon" is a
massive, high-tech scene changer located behind and below the American
Adventure theater. This movable device is the length of a rail road box
car and twice as wide (about 65 feet by 35 feet by 14 feet). It weighs
175 tons and moves on a computer-controlled system of tracks. The number
of Audio-Animatronics figures and scene changes in the show forced Disney
Imagineers to invent this behemoth that not only moves the 11 sets backwards
and forwards, but up and down as well. In fact, the space taken up in
the pavilion for this device is greater than the actual seating area for
guests!

The familiar
pagoda of the neighboring Japan pavilion is in place. The levels of the
five-tiered pagoda represent the five elements from which Buddhists believe
all things in the universe are produced: earth, water, fire, wind and
sky. Atop the pagoda is a bronze, nine-ringed spire, known as a "sorin,"
with gold wind chimes and a water flame. Hey! This place has a basement,
too. But this one will house the restaurant's kitchens. The koi ponds
and life-support systems are almost complete, and the architectural ornamentation
is almost ready for installation.

The steelwork
for the France pavilion is nearly complete but something is I dunno
missing. Oh yeah. The Eiffel Tower. This scale replica isn't quite finished
as yet, but the exterior decorative elements are about 85% complete. The
Tower will be constructed using a copy of Gustav Eiffel's blueprints for
the original tower, but the Epcot version will be about 1/13 the size
of the original. Through the use of forced perspective, though, the tower
looks taller than it actually is. Another difference between the two towers
will be the color. The pavilion's tower is painted, a brownish pink color,
which differs from the way the original Eiffel Tower looks today. Years
of oxidation have changed the tower in Paris to a greenish color, similar
to that of the Statue of Liberty. However, since the Disney pavilion was
created to represent Paris in the late 1800s, it was painted the color
representative of that period. A final discrepancy between the original
tower and the one in World Showcase is one that you would likely never
notice. To discourage birds from perching on or making nests in the tower,
it will be covered with a sticky substance. This also prevents the forced
perspective illusion from being ruined, as the birds would look enormous
perched near the top of the tower!

Those folks
over at the U.K. pavilion are in high-gear, as most of the Royal Doulton
China shop is complete, and much of the exterior facades are almost finished.
'Otium Cum Dignitate' ('Leisure with dignity') is the motto around here,
as I see the replica of Hampton Court Palace and Anne Hataway's thatched
cottage taking shape nicely.

Finally,
the architectural elements and ornamentation on the replica of the Chateau
Laurier in Canada that they are installing are astounding. It is another
example of "forced perspective," in that although it looks six
stories high, it is actually only three. The building was designed to
represent the entire nation of Canada, as the top portion of the building
represents French Canada, while the lower half is patterned after the
hotels built around the turn of the century by the Canadian railroad as
it pushed west toward the Rockies. The entire pavilion features architecture
and landscaping found throughout the nation. The amazing amount of rockwork
in the canyon, pre and post-show areas and mountains is spectacular.

But you know
how can I take a trip back to WDW in 1982 without taking a quick trip
over to the Magic Kingdom? I can't, so let's hop aboard the monor
I mean grab a bus and head on over.

Looks like
I'm just in time to for the big party! Well, the tail end of it, anyway.
WDW just celebrated their 10th Anniversary on October 1, 1981, and Kraft
is saluting Walt Disney World's birthday with a one-hour TV special, being
taped in just a few days. I can meet all my favorite stars here, like
the Gatlin Brothers, and Michael Keaton. The show will follow the fictitious
Lane family (Eileen Brennan, Dean Jones, Michelle Lee, Dana Plato and
Ricky Schroeder) through the Magic Kingdom and resorts. The finale will
feature a huge musical number featuring 10,000 WDW Cast Members!

OK, I'm going
to make a quick trip into Tomorrowland, and hit "If You Had Wings",
grab a cool mask at the House of Magic, and then I'm outta here! This
Wayback machine can be a bit finicky, and I can't get stuck back here
with no internet, Tivo, cell phone, mortgage payment, job... hey, wait
a second! It's not so bad here after all! Oh wait. There goes some girl
wearing a head band and leg warmers, singing "Let's Get Physical".
Of course, if I could lay a couple of bucks on Oakland to cover the spread
over the Eagles before I go, that could help pay for some sweet WDW vacations
once I get back

(insert dream
sequence music and blurry visual effects here)

Well folks,
that was WDW back in January, 1982. Very different than what we see today,
but interesting (to geeks like me, anyway) to see how it's evolved, and
the engineering marvels that shaped how Epcot came to be.

I look forward
to out next trip back in time, as we visit Walt Disney World they way
you may (or may not) remember it.